With respect to the development of cataracts in association with AD, early and accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is still a challenge and the confirmatory diagnosis is made by presence of features including beta-amyloid plaques postmortem. In 2014, Tian et al suggested that AD may have a common pathophysiology with supranuclear deposits of beta-amyloid in the human lens. The brain and the lens tissue both arise from the ectoderm tissue (neuroectoderm and surface ectoderm respectively). Their conclusions were based on a meta-analysis of studies, which provided mixed data regarding the correlation of beta-amyloid in the lens samples of patients with AD, Down syndrome and controls. Given the chronicity of the terminally differentiated cell types in the lens that may be affected by Alzheimer disease's pathology, they concluded that there is a possibility than an ocular biomarker for early AD may exist in the lens. This would suggest that an early ophthalmic examination may provide a window of hope into early diagnosis of AD. It may also provide an opportunity for early treatment and perhaps monitoring of improvement in supranuclear cataracts with systemic therapy.